Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'll only add that I agree housing is one important issue. I know recently from New Brunswick, and I've worked with first nations chiefs for the last three years there, that housing constantly comes up. I think it's not so much an issue of procurement, honestly. It may be in the more northern regions of Canada, but certainly in most of the southern regions funding is the key issue.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It's a big question. But thank you for asking it. I'm not sure I can answer that. I know as an Acadian our legendary rock group from the 1970s was 1755, the year of the expulsion of the Acadians. They would always end their concerts with “Be proud of who you are.” That has stayed with me all my life up until now and will continue to stay with me.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I won't use up much time. I really want to echo what Carol just said. Just recently, in October, we held a youth engagement forum called “Ignite your Spirit” at which we had 25 indigenous youth in care or recently out of care. Overwhelmingly, they said that what they craved was a connection to their identify and their culture, especially if they were in the care system, because often they're not in their own communities.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'm fine with both, but I do think that any program has to be anchored in communities, in community values, and community culture. If a national strategy is what's needed to generate the funding that's required, that's fine. There are principles that exist. I think Carol has been quite eloquent on that front.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I'm sure you've heard all of this before. First, I want to say that, in an earlier life, in New Brunswick, I was asked to review the overall health of first nations children after the death of a young girl by suicide. We had done fairly extensive research and comparisons between indigenous and non-indigenous children and, clearly, all of these issues related to trauma.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Good morning.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you for having me. Good morning from British Columbia. A very early good morning from the west coast. I'm very pleased to contribute to the discussion of such an enormously important topic. I thank the committee for taking on this work. The sheer gravity of the situation of suicide among indigenous people demands whatever action can be taken to address this to restore the desire to embrace life, to strengthen communities.